Plus ça change, plus c’est le même chien

29th September, 2011

Fears of dog poisoner on Lamma

Pet owners on the island are on the alert after at least six animals have died from eating bait suspected to have been laced with a powerful weed killer Pet owners on Lamma Island fear a dog poisoner is on the loose after at least six animals died in the past three weeks.

One owner, who lost a chow [GinHK: What the hell is a chow? Isn’t that something edible?], said yesterday that the actual figure was more than 10 because some cases had not been reported and the owners had decided to bury their dead pets. The Lamma Animal Welfare Centre is warning all dog owners to be on the alert. Centre chairwoman Elizabeth Huang said the dogs died after apparently eating bait laced with poison in either Yung Shue Long or around the fire station in Yung Shue Wan.

“We believe the poison was sprayed on meat left out on the street. It was a deliberate act,” Huang said. Dr Hans de Vries of the Lamma Veterinary Clinic said he had come across three poisoning cases involving seven dogs in the past two to three weeks. Six out of the seven died and the remaining one was dying.

31st October, 1993

‘Our pets are being poisoned’

PET owners on Lamma claim their dogs are being poisoned as part of a hate campaign by locals. One animal lover says she can no longer bear to stay on the island after two of her dogs were killed last week.

‘’I cannot stay with this much hatred and violence,’‘ said the woman, who wished to remain anonymous. ’‘I have lived in Hong Kong for 22 years and I have never felt so threatened.’‘ Lamma police have set up a series of meetings with village headmen to try to defuse the situation, while the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is campaigning for paraquat, a herbicide used to poison the dogs, to be banned from the territory.

‘’I came to Lamma seven years ago because I valued the nature and friendly atmosphere here, but that has all changed,’‘ said the woman.